my
English
Pronunciation
- (stressed) enPR: mī IPA(key): /maɪ/
Audio (US) (file)
- (unstressed) IPA(key): /maɪ/, /mə/
- (unstressed, Cockney) IPA(key): /mɪ/, /mi/
- IPA(key): /mi/ in some speakers of Hiberno-English, Scouse
- Rhymes: -aɪ
- Homophone: muh (some dialects)
Etymology 1
From Middle English mi, my, apocopated form of min, myn, from Old English mīn (“my, mine”), from Proto-Germanic *mīnaz (“my, mine”, pron.) (possessive of *ek (“I”)), from Proto-Indo-European *méynos (“my; mine”). Cognate with West Frisian myn (“my”), Afrikaans my (“my”), Dutch mijn (“my”), German mein (“my”), Swedish min (“my”). More at me.
Determiner
my
- First-person singular possessive determiner. See Appendix:Possessive#English.
- Belonging to me.
- I can't find my book.
- Associated with me.
- My seat at the restaurant was uncomfortable.
- Don't you know my name?
- I recognised him because he had attended my school.
- Related to me.
- My parents won't let me go out tonight.
- In the possession of me.
- I have to take my books back to the library soon.
- Belonging to me.
Related terms
Derived terms
Translations
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See also
personal pronoun | possessive pronoun | possessive determiner | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
subjective | objective | reflexive | |||||
first person | singular | I | me | myself | mine | my mine (before vowels, archaic) | |
plural | we | us | ourselves ourself | ours | our | ||
second person | singular | standard | you | you | yourself | yours yourn (obsolete outside dialects) | your |
archaic, informal | thou | thee | thyself theeself | thine | thy thine (before vowels) | ||
plural | standard | you you all ye (archaic) | you you all | yourselves | yours yourn (obsolete outside dialects) | your | |
informal / dialectal | (see list of dialectal forms at you and inflected forms in those entries) | ||||||
third person | singular | masculine | he | him | himself hisself (archaic) | his hisn (obsolete outside dialects) | his |
feminine | she | her | herself | hers hern (obsolete outside dialects) | her | ||
neuter | it | it | itself | its his (archaic) | its his (archaic) | ||
genderless | they | them | themself, themselves | theirs | their | ||
genderless, nonspecific (formal) |
one | one | oneself | – | one's | ||
plural | they | them | themselves | theirs theirn (obsolete outside dialects) | their |
Etymology 2
An abbreviation of an oath such as my word or my lord
Afrikaans
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /məi/
See also
subjective | objective | possessive | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
singular | 1st | ek | my | |||
2nd | jy | jou | ||||
2nd, formal | u | |||||
3rd, masc | hy | hom | sy | |||
3rd, fem | sy | haar | ||||
3rd, neut | dit | sy | ||||
plural | 1st | ons | ||||
2nd | julle | julle / jul1 | ||||
3rd | hulle | hulle / hul1 | ||||
1. In the second and third persons plural, the usual possessive forms are julle and hulle (like the subjective and objective forms), but jul and hul are sometimes used instead when the sentence would otherwise be ambiguous. |
See also
subjective | objective | possessive | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
singular | 1st | ek | my | |||
2nd | jy | jou | ||||
2nd, formal | u | |||||
3rd, masc | hy | hom | sy | |||
3rd, fem | sy | haar | ||||
3rd, neut | dit | sy | ||||
plural | 1st | ons | ||||
2nd | julle | julle / jul1 | ||||
3rd | hulle | hulle / hul1 | ||||
1. In the second and third persons plural, the usual possessive forms are julle and hulle (like the subjective and objective forms), but jul and hul are sometimes used instead when the sentence would otherwise be ambiguous. |
Cornish
Alternative forms
- (Standard Cornish) me
Etymology
From Proto-Brythonic *mi, from Proto-Celtic *mī.
Czech
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic *my, from Proto-Indo-European *nos
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /mɪ/
audio (file)
Danish
Declension
neuter gender |
Singular | Plural | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
nominative | my | myet | myer | myerne |
genitive | mys | myets | myers | myernes |
Synonyms
Egyptian
References
- James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN.
Lower Sorbian
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic *my, from Proto-Indo-European *nos
Declension
Manx
Middle English
References
- “min, (pron.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 6 May 2018.
Polish
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic *my, from Proto-Indo-European *me-.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /mɨ/
audio (file)
Declension
See also
- Appendix:Polish pronouns
Portuguese
West Frisian
Etymology
From Old Frisian mī, from Proto-Germanic *miz.
Westrobothnian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [mýː], [mǿʏ̯ː], [mʊ́ɪ̯ː]
- Rhymes: -ýː
- (ð-dropping) Rhymes: -ýː, -ýːð
- (northern í-ý merger) Rhymes: -íː, -ýː
Etymology
From Old Norse mý, from Proto-Germanic *mugjǭ, *mują, from Proto-Indo-European *mu (“fly”), *mew-. Cognates with Norwegian mygg, Swedish mygga, Danish myg, Old English mycg, mycge (whence Middle English mygga, English midge); Old High German mucka (German Mücke (“mosquito”)); Latvian muša; Albanian mizë; Russian муха (múxa); Ancient Greek μυῖα (muîa); Ukrainian муха (múxa); Bulgarian муха (múxa); Lower Sorbian mucha, Polish mucha and Slovak mucha. Akin to Latin musca (“fly”). Compare the Dutch mug.
Derived terms
- myskrank (“crane fly”)